Serpentine

History

The townsite derives its name from the nearby Serpentine River. The name is descriptive, derived from the "serpentine" nature of the river in its lower reaches where it was discovered and named in the early 1830s by Europeans. European colonialists began a settlement south of the river in the 1830s. Under colonial government-sponsored immigration schemes, more settlers arrived in the area from 1849 onwards to purchase farmland. In 1856, a cemetery was established to service the area, but wasn't gazetted until 28 March 1907. It originally had different sections for Catholics and Protestants, and is the burial place for about 645 people. Mathew Hale, who was the first Anglican Bishop of Western Australia, frequently resided in a cottage he built around 1864 in Serpentine. During the 1880s, Serpentine was an important stopping place for Cobb & Co stagecoaches. Under the Group Settlement Scheme introduced in the early 1920s by the Western Australian government, around 150 farms about each in size were built in 8 groups in western Serpentine and Hopeland. They were mainly dairy farms inline with the scheme. By 2018, only 4 dairy farms still operated in Serpentine. The 1920s also saw the establishment of two general stores, a butcher shop, tearoom, and a garage. Originally the idea of Arthur Middleton and his neighbours, it was officially opened by Premier James Mitchell on 8 August 1932. At the time it was the only operating cheese factory in Western Australia. It operated until 1951, and has since became a Shire of Serpentine–Jarrahdale heritage-listed place. During the Second World War, local lives were impacted by the effects of rationing and shortages of labour and certain resources. In the summer of 1940/1941, the Serpentine river stopped flowing for the first…